Fight the Kraken Set New World Record!

They say that the darkest hours are those before dawn and this was particularly true this morning off the coast of O’ahu. At around 3:30 am the Great Pacific Race Committee boat left the dock with the Kraken Men and one of the Kraken Mums. The skies were overcast, there was no moon and the pre-dawn hours were pitch black. Guided by the red beacon on the Diamond Head buoy, which marks the finish line of the Great Pacific Race, the search for the Kraken Girls began.

At 4:12 am, the white navigation light of Sedna was spotted on the horizon. The girls were very close to finishing their epic journey. At 4:30 am, Vicki Otmani and Megan Biging rowed Sedna across the finish line of the Great Pacific Race. The Kraken Girls completed the race in 57 days 13 hours and 30 minutes.

After the girls crossed the finish line they were met by the Galen Diana. Once again under her protective watch, the girls rowed through the remaining darkness before dawn. The Galen Diana had been their guardian through many stormy seas during the girls crossing, so having her there for the final hours of darkness these girls had to row, made for a poetic end to their crossing.

As the skies started to brighten with the morning light, the Galen Diana headed in so the family and friends on board could be on shore to meet these incredible ladies. On the Race Committee boat were Harmon and Chris, the two men who have waited ever so patiently to see their girls once again. As the skies turned from black to grey to pink, Harmon and Chris could see the bronzed Kraken Girls and we heard “Hey Baby” and “Hello Beautiful” being called across the water, while the girls were still making jokes the entire way and anxiously rowing to shore.

At 6:09 am the girls hit terra firma once again. This time is important as their shore to shore time will mark their complete crossing. They arrived on shore after 57 days 16 hours and 9 minutes. This meant that Vicki and Megan had set a new World Record for a female pair in a Classic rowing boat by 2 days 12 hours and 56 minutes.

The Kraken girls were adorned with leis around their necks as well as crowns of flowers for their heads. They looked absolutely stunning at their arrival. Overall they lost a total of 75.4 pounds between them.

They sat down for breakfast and told us stories of their adventure. Vicki told us that the challenges of the trip were innumerable – “ones that we never expected” she said. “I have a new definition of the word hard. For sure, nothing else will ever compare. I can’t imagine how it could. From hurricanes to exhaustion to everything. But there were some really incredible things as well that made all of that crap worth it. It was hard, but it was awesome hard.”

They then told us some of the amazing things that happened to them during their crossing. They both managed to touch a shark – “not the same shark, but different sharks” they told us.

“This morning as we were coming through the Moloka’i Channel, we were surfing with a pod of about 50 pilot whales.”

“We saw a meteor that lit up the sky on the 4th of July just as we were rowing across the halfway point.”

“We saw moonbows! I didn’t even think that a moonbow was a thing!”

The arrival of Fight the Kraken marks the completion of the 2016 Great Pacific Race. This has been a remarkable event and the family of Pacific Ocean Rowers has expanded not only by the 15 courageous individuals who completed this crossing but also by their families, friends and supporters.

Congratulations to all our teams from the 2016 Great Pacific Race!

The next edition of the Great Pacific Race will be in 2018. If you think you might be up for the challenge, click here.